Door or window screen



, (No Moden.)

E. GOFP. DOOR OR WINDOW SCREEN.

I NO.V535,132. l PatentedlVIa-r. 5,1895.

Thron.

FATn-NT EDW'ARD GOFF, OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, lNDIANA.

DOOR OR WINDOW SCREEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 535,132, dated March 5,1895.

Application filed April 29, 1893.

To @ZZ whom, iv' may concern/.-

Be itknown that I, EDWARD GOFF, of Franklin county, Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Door or Window Screens,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to door or window screens, to exclude files or likeinsects from a room; and the object of my improvement is to providesuitable means for the egress of the flies that prevents their ingress.This object is obtained in the following described manner, asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a frontelevation of a screen door; Fig. 2, an enlarged rear elevation of itstop portion; Fig. 3, a front elevation of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, an enlargedperspective view of the top portion of Fig. l with portions broken awayto show the relation of parts; Fig. 5, a plan of the trap or guardattached to a portion of the screen; Fig. 6,a vertical section of Fig. 5bisecting the rivet; Fig. 7, portions of the guide showing differentprovisions for attachment to the screen; Fig. 8, a vertical section of amodified form of the trap.

In the drawings A represents the stiles and B the rails that constitutethe frame; C, wire cloth secured by its edges thereto; D, battens orstrips secured to the frame over the Y edges of cloth C.

E shows a zigzag guide or lead across the inside of the screen near thetop, and which projects therefrom to the extent of the thickness of theframe. Said guide is preferably formed of a narrow strip of tin or othersheet metal, by being turned in opposite directions from its plane, ateqnidistant points in its length respectively, to form adjacent angles Fand G preferably less than right angles. A perforated iiange I-I orpoints I (Fig. 7) may be formed on the inner edge of the guide tofacilitate its attachment to the screen.

Below the apex of each depending angle F a circular opening J is formedthrough the wire cloth of larger dimensions than its mesh. Cone shapedtrap K preferably of perforated sheet metal has a circular opening Lthrough its apex larger than the other perforations therein.

The base of the trap is open, and of larger diameter than perforationsJ' over which it is Serial No. 472,301. (No model."l

secured on the outer side of the screen in such position that saidopenings or perforations J enter the trap at the lower edge of the base.The position of the base of the traps in relation to said openings isshown by circles a in Fig. 3. The trap as shown in Fig. 8 is adapted tobe permanently secured to the screen over the openings by means ofintegral pins b projecting from its base to be clinched through themeshes of the wire. The trap may be constructed integral with one end ofarm M, the other end of the arm terminating in flange N. A rivet cthrough the arm secures the same to the screen and permits the trap orthe flange to be brought over opening J, the function of the flangebeing to close said opening.

Grooves O are formed inthe stiles, and extend from the inner edgesthereof in an upward and outward direction, under and beyond thewire-cloth and batteri. Said grooves begin below the points where theguide terminates against the edges of the Stiles.

The top and middle rails B of the frame are each provided with a seriesof equidistant channels, or gaps P that open under said rails inside thescreen, and whose edges converge to points e above the batten. The frontside of said channels are covered by the edge of the wire cloth andhatten, except the top portion thereof, which is left open for the exitof the flies that enter from below, and within the screen. Said channelsare arranged in the top rail, directly over the respective angles F inthe guide. In the middle rail their location is less important.

In the operation of this device advantage is takenof the well knowntendency of flies to travel upward along a screen or other transparentvertical surface in their efforts to nd an exit. Consequently thechannels under the middle rail offer the first convenient means of exitto them. Above the middle rail the flies are intercepted by the guide,the convergence of whose respective sections direct them throughopenings J and into the traps, where they are more apt to explore theinterior of the traps above openings .I than to return through saidopenings, and in so doing they take advantage of the perforations in theapex of the traps to escape.l The well known curiosity shown by flies ininvestigat- IOO ing strange objects accessible to them, leads them tosometimes investigate the guide Whose brightness attracts theirattention. IE in so doing they should pass over it they tend to followits sides to without the apex of angles F and thence through channels Plocated directly above the apices ot' said angles.

It is evident that the external openings of the channels and trap arenot convenient nor inviting for the ingress of flies; besides they aremore obscured than other parts from light Within the room, that wouldserve to attract the flies.

In Window screens the middle rail may be omitted altogether Withoutimpairing the ef- Iiciency of the other parts.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a screen having egress openings therein, of acorrugated strip or plate arranged perpendicularly to the plane of thescreen and provided with angles, the converging sides of which intersectat or near the egress openings.

2. The combination of a frame provided with Wire cloth secured theretoby its edges, a metal guide secured across the inside surface of theWire cloth near its top and perpendicular thereto, the direction of saidguide being alternately changed to form a series of equidistantdepending angles that inclose respective openings formed through theWire cloth and of larger dimensions than the mesh thereof.

3. The combination in a screen of a projecting metal guide extendingacross and near the top of the inside surface thereof, and inclosing byequidistant depending angles therein, respective openings formed throughthe screen, and of larger dimensions than its mesh, and conical metaltraps with open bases and perforated by an opening through their apices,and having their bases secured to the outside surface of the screen andover said respective openings.

EDWARD GOFF.

Witnesses:

D. O. CoRcoRAN, J. O. MILLER.

